Looks like Christmas came early for the Pittsburgh Steelers, who, Sunday, trounced the Buffalo Bills, 27-20. It was the Steelers’ fourth win in a row — and was a particularly important one as the playoff picture really starts to take shape.
While Pittsburgh’s offense had 460 yards, it easily looked like it could have had 800 with the ease with which Buffalo’s defense was picked apart. On the other side of the ball, the Bills finished with 275 yards (but Buffalo had just -1 yard after the first quarter.)
Running back Le’Veon Bell had his fourth-straight 100-plus yard game, the first four-game streak of its kind for Pittsburgh since Willie Parker did so in the 2006-07 seasons. Bell almost singlehandedly dismantled the Bills’ defense; he had an unbelievable 236 yards as a back and added 62 as a receiver.
Bell also scored all three of the Steelers’ touchdowns, easily waltzing into the endzone untouched on the third one that put Pittsburgh up 21-7. His patience with the ball continues to amaze — at one point, it looked like he was going to get about two yards before he waited and found a hole for a 32-yard run. Later in the game, on a first-and-20, Bell ran for 33 yards. (It certainly helps that he plays behind what has developed into one of the league’s best offensive lines.)
Bell’s tremendous play was especially important because of a bad game from quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Roethlisberger finished with 220 yards, but he had three interceptions — and almost had at least two more. Two of the picks seemed to be a result of miscommunication with the intended receiver (Ladarius Green and Antonio Brown), and the third — which happened in the endzone — negated a chance for the Steelers to completely put the Bills away.
On the road from 2015-16, Roethlisberger has thrown 17 picks compared to 13 touchdowns.
Of course, Roethlisberger had his shining moments, too, including a 40-yard pass to Brown that reminded people that the duo is — hands down — the league’s best deep combo.
But, overall, it was one of the gunslinger’s worst games of the season.
It was a relatively quiet game for arguably the league’s best wideout (Brown), who went an entire quarter without touching the ball, but Bell’s huge game meant it wasn’t much of a problem.
Chris Boswell tacked on two field goals to cement the game in the Steelers’ favor.
As seems to be the case in recent years, Pittsburgh’s defense really comes to play in December. And Sunday was no different. Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor was sacked five times; the Steelers now have a league-high 18 sacks in the last four games.
Especially on top of their game were the linebackers, who have developed into a dangerous unit. Ryan Shazier is one of the most athletic players on the team, and having Bud Dupree back from injury and into a starting role should terrify opposing offenses. The OLB combo of Dupree and James Harrison, who played just about every snap together, looked great. And Lawrence Timmons hasn’t been a slouch, either.
The other key for this team is the improved play of the secondary — in particular, rookies Sean Davis (safety) and Artie Burns (cornerback). The two young guys have developed into talented players and will be key if the Steelers want to make a deep playoff run.
Burns picked off Taylor for the cornerback’s third interception this season (and just the sixth for Buffalo’s quarterback.) And Sunday, Davis was essentially Taylor’s biggest nightmare; the safety wrapped the quarterback up for 1.5 sacks and brought heavy pressure on several other plays.
Having a veteran presence in the secondary in guys like Mike Mitchell and Ross Cockrell has been nice, but Burns and Davis are showing why they deserved to be taken as high as they were — in the first and second rounds — in the 2016 draft.
Sunday’s game was an easy win for Pittsburgh (it would have been an easier win if not for Roethlisberger’s costly turnovers) against a team that needed to win out to keep its playoff hopes alive. Instead, it’s the Steelers whose playoff hopes were aided; Pittsburgh remains in contention for either the top spot in the AFC North or a wildcard spot.
Currently, Pittsburgh leads the AFC North with its 8-5 record, but if the Baltimore Ravens beat the New England Patriots on Monday night, the Ravens will remain on top of the division because they currently hold the tiebreak over the Steelers.
The win over the Bills was Mike Tomlin’s 100th win as the Steelers’ head coach.
